Mitt Romney: Susan Rice pick 'disappointing'

Mitt Romney says in a new interview that he’s disappointed in President Barack Obama’s tapping of Susan Rice to serve as his national security adviser, comments that come as the failed 2012 Republican nominee wades back into the national political landscape on Thursday.

“I find that a disappointing appointment on the part of the president,” he told CNN in an interview, according to early excerpts the network posted. “I think what she did was to very seriously mislead the American people about what happened in Benghazi. My greatest concern about the Benghazi events was the fact there was not a rescue effort attempted and that is very troubling to me.”

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GOP targets Susan Rice

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Romney also said he believes the Benghazi incident damaged former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s prospects for a 2016 presidential run.

“I think Secretary Clinton’s challenge will not just be Benghazi but more the record of American foreign policy over the last four years while she was Secretary of State,” Romney said. “The prospects for stability, for liberal democracy, for freedom have retreated over the period of her administration in the department of state and I think that’s something that will be a challenge for her.”

The interview with Romney and his wife, Ann, aired on CNN’s “The Lead”. Thursday marks the opening day of a conference Romney is convening in Park City, Utah, featuring leading Republicans — like Chris Christie, Paul Ryan and Rand Paul — as well as donors and a handful of Democrats, including former senior Obama adviser David Axelrod.

“What I want to do is bring together people, Republicans and Democrats, businesspeople, philanthropy-oriented people, political folks, and talk about where the country is and say what should we, as a nation, be talking about and working on,” he said in his interview with CNN’s Gloria Borger.

The Romneys were split on whether they’d encourage their children to run for office. Their eldest son Tagg was was reportedly considering a run for Senate in Massachusetts last February.

“Depends on the circumstance. If one of our boys or daughters in law finds themselves in a position where they could make a real contribution and they’re needed — school board, mayor, congress, whatever, I’d expect them to stand up and volunteer,” Romney said.